Here we have a truly special wine from a vineyard packed full of character and history. Planted in 1964, these old vines sit at 1,700feet high above Kenwood in the recently-designated Moon Mountain appellation – a new name for an old area of significant historical importance in the evolution of Californian Cabernet. These upland, highlyeroded mountain soils produce wines drenched in terroir signatures – no simple juicy fruit here. I describe the vineyard signature as “red-mineral-vapor”, that volcanic/ferrous/iron quality that seems to come directly out of the soil into the wine. Woodsy, underbrushy, a little herbal and full of sweet tobacco and pine needle scents – really fascinating and compelling.

The wine itself has all these elements wound around lovely deep red and black fruits – cherries and blackberry mostly – underpinned by bittersweet cocoa powder notes and dense chewy mountain tannins. There’s tremendous volume to the wine’s mid-palate which continues to expand after days in the bottle – at 60 hours after opening the wine was at its peak during my tasting. This is no doubt due to the high level of dry extract these low-yielding old vines naturally produce – thick, dense and chewy. Don’t be afraid therefore, to decant this well in advance, so the wine’s full beauty can gradually unfold. No doubt this wine offers excellent cellaring potential – 10+ years will be no problem. Because of the age of the vines, there will always be a finite supply of this bottling – great things come in small packages.